Mercury nuclear properties

The elements will be discussed in the order of increasing atomic number in the Periodic Table, i.e. nickel, zinc, technetium, ruthenium, silver, hafnium, tantalum, tungsten, rhem um, osmium, iridium, platinum, gold, and mercury. Full numerical data of the relevant nuclear properties are summarized, as for other elements, in Appendix 1. 

Among liquid metal candidates, mercury (Hg), sodium-potassium (NaK) alloy, sodium (Na), lead (Pb), and lead-bismuth eutectic (Pb-Bi) have been considered and used to build and operate liquid metal nuclear systems. However, liquid Na became the most smdied and used option mainly because it allowed, together with the selection of an appropriate fuel type (e.g., metal or oxide fuel), for a lower doubling time. On the other hand, hquid Hg was abandoned due to its toxicity, high vapor pressure and low boiling temperature as well as poor nuclear and heat transfer properties. More recently, in the framework of Generation IV, the development of fast reactors cooled with liquid metals considers hquid Na but also liquid Pb and liquid Pb-Bi as coolant... 

A number of elements beyond element 109 are predicted to lie in an island of nuclear stability around elements 112-118. Two atoms of element 112 were recently produced. It had been predicted that element 112 might not have metallic properties and would not belong in column 12 (IIB). However, the researchers found that its chemical properties are similar to those of mercury, since the atoms seemed to form metallic bonds with a gold surface. Small quantities of elements 113 (Uut) and 115 (Uup) have been produced in nuclear reactions between " " Am and " Ca, apparently forming Uup and three neutrons. The Uup then decayed to form " Uut and an alpha particle. ... 

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